×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

2D sections into 3D surface

2D sections into 3D surface

2D sections into 3D surface

(OP)
Hello I'm new to the group, but have already learned much, thanks. My question is, what is the best way to create a 3d mesh out of a series of sectional views? Should I import the existing  drawings as blocks at the proper intervals (columns) and manually connect them with splines (rows), creating a mesh manually, or is there a better, smarter way? The model will consist of 16 sections (stations)(mirrored to 32)2 ends and a bottom profile. It is all curves, and it seems that there should be a simple way to do this , now that the stations have been drawn.

RE: 2D sections into 3D surface

AutoCad is very weak in this area.

If your completed geometry can be created using spheres, cubes, cyllinders, and cones, I'd suggest making a solid by performing booleans on the above primitives.  Then you can explode the solid (once) and be left with a surface.

If your geometry is move complex or organic, I would do the following.  Xref in your sections.  Bind your xrefs.  Explode them a couple of times to make them into lines and arcs.  Now you can add the missing lines/arcs/etc to apply ACAD surfacing commands.

I don't remember if you can surface with splines.

If you're trying to bring in a design done in another package, you might be able to forego all this by importing the original solid.  Most packages will allow you to expoert as an SAT (ACIS Solid).  You can import them into ACAD using the "ACISIN" command.  Fortunately, Autodesk includes this command for free and I have found that it is a great way to bring in designs from SolidWorks, Inventor, and parts provided by vendors on the Web.  Another method is to use Autodesk's Add-On import utility (I forget what it's called) that will allow you to import IGES, STEP, and one other format.

Hope this helps.  loeb@microtech.com

RE: 2D sections into 3D surface

(OP)
The completed model is all compound curves. Each section is composed of a 15 point spline. Perhaps the easiest thing to do is to export the .dwgs to solidworks and loft the sketches, make a solid model, save it as an iges file then open it up in acad.

RE: 2D sections into 3D surface

(OP)
scrap that, I just  read the other post about opening iges files in acad, oh well, I guess I could live with a solid model, but I really wanted to make a mesh. Theres got to be a way. Whats wrong with linking the sections manually, or does that just make something that appears to be a mesh, but somehow isn't?

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources